An environmental investigation into the outbreak revealed that Salmonella was present at Paramount when three samples from two-huller-shellers that supplied Paramount during the period of interest tested positive for Salmonella contamination. As a result, the Health Hazard Evaluation Board at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concluded that Paramount Farms raw almonds:
[P]ose an acute, life-threatening hazard to health, particularly in children and elderly persons. Additionally, any products manufactured using these almonds, where the new product did not receive an adequate kill step to eliminate Salmonella from the finished product, likewise poses an acute, life-threatening hazard to health, particularly in children and elderly persons.